Department-managed lands: wildlife areas: hunting.

Existing law requires the Department of Fish and Wildlife to operate department-managed lands on a nonprofit basis and authorizes the department to enter into contracts or other agreements for the management and operation of the department-managed lands with a nonprofit conservation group, as defined. Existing law authorizes the department to lease department-managed lands for agricultural activities if certain conditions are met and requires money collected from the lease of these lands to be deposited by the department in the Wildlife Restoration Fund or the Fish and Game Preservation Fund, and authorizes the department, upon appropriation by the Legislature, to use the funds to support the management, maintenance, restoration, and operations of department-managed lands. This bill would authorize the department to enter into contracts or other agreements for the management and operation of the department-managed lands for the purposes of administrating hunting or other public use programs. The bill would also require, upon appropriation by the Legislature, the above-described funds to be used by the department to support the management, maintenance, restoration, and operations of department-managed lands. Existing law requires the department to annually provide an opportunity for licensed hunters to comment and make recommendations on public hunting programs, including anticipated habitat conditions in hunting areas on Type A and Type B wildlife areas, as provided. This bill would add wetland floodup to the topics that the department is required to provide an opportunity for comment and recommendation on as described above. The bill would create the Waterfowl Management Areas Operations and Maintenance Account in the Fish and Game Preservation Fund and would require all revenues generated from the sale of waterfowl hunting reservation applications and daily and season long entry passes from Type A and Type B Wildlife Areas to be deposited into the account. The bill would continuously appropriate those revenues for the operation and maintenance of, and the reasonable administrative costs directly related to the public hunting programs for, Type A and Type B Wildlife Areas.